diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index f3745f3..04e0678 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ lazy val plugin = project
         case _      => "2.0.0-M2"
       }
     },
+    libraryDependencies += "org.scalameta" %% "munit" % "0.7.29" % Test,
     addSbtPlugin("com.github.sbt" % "sbt-dynver" % "5.1.0"),
     addSbtPlugin("com.github.sbt" % "sbt-git" % "2.1.0"),
     addSbtPlugin("com.github.sbt" % "sbt-pgp" % "2.3.0"),
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/scala/com/geirsson/CiReleasePlugin.scala b/plugin/src/main/scala/com/geirsson/CiReleasePlugin.scala
index ad99c50..8286ffa 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/scala/com/geirsson/CiReleasePlugin.scala
+++ b/plugin/src/main/scala/com/geirsson/CiReleasePlugin.scala
@@ -106,6 +106,8 @@ object CiReleasePlugin extends AutoPlugin {
       Some(s"scm:git:git@github.com:$user/$repo.git")
     )
 
+  lazy val cireleasePublishCommand = settingKey[String]("")
+
   override lazy val buildSettings: Seq[Def.Setting[_]] = List(
     dynverSonatypeSnapshots := true,
     scmInfo ~= {
@@ -128,7 +130,20 @@ object CiReleasePlugin extends AutoPlugin {
         } catch {
           case NonFatal(_) => None
         }
-    }
+    },
+    cireleasePublishCommand := {
+      val gitDescribe = dynverGitDescribeOutput.value
+      val v = gitDescribe.getVersion(
+        dynverCurrentDate.value,
+        dynverSeparator.value,
+        dynverSonatypeSnapshots.value
+      )
+      sys.env.get("CI_RELEASE") match {
+        case Some(cmd) => cmd
+        case None      => backPubVersionToCommand(v)
+      }
+    },
+    version ~= dropBackPubCommand,
   )
 
   override lazy val globalSettings: Seq[Def.Setting[_]] = List(
@@ -136,7 +151,8 @@ object CiReleasePlugin extends AutoPlugin {
     publishMavenStyle := true,
     commands += Command.command("ci-release") { currentState =>
       val shouldDeployToSonatypeCentral = isDeploySetToSonatypeCentral(currentState)
-      val isSnapshot = isSnapshotVersion(currentState)
+      val version = getVersion(currentState)
+      val isSnapshot = isSnapshotVersion(version)
       if (!isSecure) {
         println("No access to secret variables, doing nothing")
         currentState
@@ -150,6 +166,8 @@ object CiReleasePlugin extends AutoPlugin {
         val reloadKeyFiles =
           "; set pgpSecretRing := pgpSecretRing.value; set pgpPublicRing := pgpPublicRing.value"
 
+        val publishCommand = getPublishCommand(currentState)
+
         if (shouldDeployToSonatypeCentral) {
           if (isSnapshot) {
             println(s"Sonatype Central does not accept snapshots, only official releases. Aborting release.")
@@ -161,7 +179,7 @@ object CiReleasePlugin extends AutoPlugin {
             println("Tag push detected, publishing a stable release")
             reloadKeyFiles ::
               sys.env.getOrElse("CI_CLEAN", "; clean ; sonatypeBundleClean") ::
-              sys.env.getOrElse("CI_RELEASE", "+publishSigned") ::
+              publishCommand ::
               sys.env.getOrElse("CI_SONATYPE_RELEASE", "sonatypeCentralRelease") ::
               currentState
           }
@@ -184,7 +202,7 @@ object CiReleasePlugin extends AutoPlugin {
             println("Tag push detected, publishing a stable release")
             reloadKeyFiles ::
               sys.env.getOrElse("CI_CLEAN", "; clean ; sonatypeBundleClean") ::
-              sys.env.getOrElse("CI_RELEASE", "+publishSigned") ::
+              publishCommand ::
               sys.env.getOrElse("CI_SONATYPE_RELEASE", "sonatypeBundleRelease") ::
               currentState
           }
@@ -210,10 +228,39 @@ object CiReleasePlugin extends AutoPlugin {
     }
   }
 
-  def isSnapshotVersion(state: State): Boolean = {
+  def getVersion(state: State): String =
     (ThisBuild / version).get(Project.extract(state).structure.data) match {
-      case Some(v) => v.endsWith("-SNAPSHOT")
+      case Some(v) => v
       case None    => throw new NoSuchFieldError("version")
     }
+
+  def getPublishCommand(state: State): String =
+    (ThisBuild / cireleasePublishCommand).get(Project.extract(state).structure.data) match {
+      case Some(v) => v
+      case None    => throw new NoSuchFieldError("cireleasePublishCommand")
+    }
+
+  def isSnapshotVersion(v: String): Boolean = v.endsWith("-SNAPSHOT")
+
+  def backPubVersionToCommand(ver: String): String =
+    if (ver.contains("@")) {
+      val afterAt = ver.split("@").drop(1).mkString("@")
+      val cmd =
+        if (afterAt.contains("#")) afterAt.split("#").head
+        else afterAt
+      if (cmd.isEmpty) sys.error(s"Invalid back-publish version: $ver")
+      else {
+        if (!cmd.head.isDigit) cmd
+        else if (cmd.contains(".x")) s";++${cmd};publishSigned"
+        else s";++${cmd}!;publishSigned"
+      }
+    } else "+publishSigned"
+
+  def dropBackPubCommand(ver: String): String = {
+    val nonComment =
+      if (ver.contains("#")) ver.split("#").head
+      else ver
+    if (nonComment.contains("@")) nonComment.split("@").head
+    else nonComment
   }
 }
diff --git a/plugin/src/test/scala/com/geirsson/CiReleaseTest.scala b/plugin/src/test/scala/com/geirsson/CiReleaseTest.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4cdd39f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugin/src/test/scala/com/geirsson/CiReleaseTest.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+package com.geirsson
+
+import CiReleasePlugin.{ backPubVersionToCommand, dropBackPubCommand }
+
+class CiReleaseTest extends munit.FunSuite {
+  val expectedVer = "1.1.0"
+
+  test("Normal version default") {
+    assertEquals(backPubVersionToCommand("1.1.0"), "+publishSigned")
+    assertEquals(dropBackPubCommand("1.1.0"), expectedVer)
+  }
+
+  test("Command starting with number is assumed to be a cross version") {
+    assertEquals(backPubVersionToCommand("1.1.0@2.12.20"), ";++2.12.20!;publishSigned")
+    assertEquals(dropBackPubCommand("1.1.0@2.12.20"), expectedVer)
+
+    assertEquals(backPubVersionToCommand("1.1.0@3.x"), ";++3.x;publishSigned")
+    assertEquals(dropBackPubCommand("1.1.0@3.x"), expectedVer)
+  }
+
+  test("Non-number is treated as an alternative publish command") {
+    assertEquals(backPubVersionToCommand("1.1.0@foo/publishSigned"), "foo/publishSigned")
+    assertEquals(dropBackPubCommand("1.1.0@foo/publishSigned"), expectedVer)
+
+    assertEquals(backPubVersionToCommand("1.1.0@+foo/publishSigned"), "+foo/publishSigned")
+    assertEquals(dropBackPubCommand("1.1.0@+foo/publishSigned"), expectedVer)
+  }
+
+  test("Treat # as comments") {
+    assertEquals(backPubVersionToCommand("1.1.0#comment"), "+publishSigned")
+    assertEquals(dropBackPubCommand("1.1.0#comment"), expectedVer)
+
+    assertEquals(backPubVersionToCommand("1.1.0@2.12.20#comment"), ";++2.12.20!;publishSigned")
+    assertEquals(dropBackPubCommand("1.1.0@2.12.20#comment"), expectedVer)
+
+    assertEquals(backPubVersionToCommand("1.1.0@3.x#comment"), ";++3.x;publishSigned")
+    assertEquals(dropBackPubCommand("1.1.0@3.x#comment"), expectedVer)
+  }
+}